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CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Hurricanes’ entire football
team took the practice field Wednesday amid mounting allegations by
a former booster and convicted Ponzi schemer who claimed he treated
players with sex parties, nightclub outings, cars and other
gifts.
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Nevin Shapiro told Yahoo! Sports he provided extra benefits to 72
football players and other athletes at Miami from 2002 to 2010. His
claims involve several current players, but coach Al Golden said it
was too soon to take disciplinary action.
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The Hurricanes open their season Sept. 5 against
Maryland.
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“Everybody is practicing,” Golden said as his team took the field
for a morning workout. “If it is determined somebody broke rules,
then certainly they’ll be first dealt with. … As we get ready for
Maryland, hopefully we’ll swiftly learn if errors were made. If
there are guys that are going to have to sit out games, we’ll
adjust our practice accordingly.”
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Players weren’t permitted to speak with the media.
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NCAA investigators were on campus this week to address Shapiro’s
allegations. Golden, who is in his first season as coach, said he’s
eager to obtain answers quickly, in part so his players don’t
repeat past mistakes.
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Shapiro was sentenced in June to 20 years in prison for
masterminding a $930 million Ponzi scheme, plus ordered to pay more
than $82 million in restitution to investors.
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“If they were exposed to Mr. Shapiro, clearly we have to make sure
we prevent that going forward,” Golden said. “You do that by
getting to the facts. How did this guy, if he did, get around our
players like that? As a head coach, I want to know. I know our
assistant coaches want to know. We want to make sure it never
happens again. It shouldn’t happen.”
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Shapiro’s allegations threaten to bring down a program with a
legacy dotted by scandals – but none quite like this. Yahoo! Sports
published its story Tuesday afternoon, saying it spent 100 hours
interviewing Shapiro over the span of 11 months and audited
thousands of pages of financial and business records to examine his
claims.
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“I did it because I could,” Shapiro said of his spending. “And
because nobody stepped in to stop me.”
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Shapiro began making his allegations about a year ago. Golden
joined the Hurricanes in December after Randy Shannon was fired.
Shawn Eichorst was hired as athletic director in April to replace
Kirby Hocutt, who resigned to become athletic director at Texas
Tech.
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Golden said when he interviewed for the job, Miami officials did
not tell him about Shapiro’s allegations.
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“If they knew this was percolating, I believe they did have a
responsibility to tell me,” Golden said. “I believe they have a
responsibility to tell Shawn. But look, I’m happy here. My wife is
happy here. We have great kids on this team. …
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“I want to make sure we get it right. As quickly as we can get to
the bottom of whatever happened, then we can move forward. The only
way to do that is to cooperate with the NCAA and get the
truth.”
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Current Miami players named by Shapiro as receiving benefits
included quarterback Jacory Harris, Ray Ray Armstrong, Travis
Benjamin, Sean Spence, Marcus Forston, Vaughn Telemaque, Dyron Dye,
Aldarius Johnson and Olivier Vernon. Former Hurricanes quarterback
Robert Marve, now at Purdue, also was named by Shapiro, Yahoo!
Sports said.
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Shapiro said he gave money, cars, yacht trips, jewelry, televisions
and other gifts to a list of players including Vince Wilfork, Jon
Beason, Antrel Rolle, Devin Hester, Willis McGahee and the late
Sean Taylor.
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Shapiro also claimed he paid for restaurant meals and in one case,
an abortion for a woman impregnated by a player. One former Miami
player, running back Tyrone Moss, told Yahoo! Sports he accepted
$1,000 from Shapiro around the time he was entering
college.
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“Hell yeah, I recruited a lot of kids for Miami,” Shapiro told
Yahoo! Sports. “With access to the clubs, access to the strip
joints. My house. My boat. We’re talking about high school football
players. Not anybody can just get into the clubs or strip joints.
Who is going to pay for it and make it happen? That was
me.”
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Shapiro has said multiple times in the past year, including in the
Yahoo! Sports story posted Tuesday, that he is angry with several
of the players he claims to have helped when they were Hurricanes –
only to be “abandoned” when he sought their help years
later.
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Miami officials began cooperating with NCAA investigators not long
after Shapiro made claims about his involvement with players last
year. Eichorst and university president Donna Shalala were
questioned by the NCAA this week. The school reiterated Tuesday it
takes the allegations seriously.
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The allegations against Miami – which dealt with a massive Pell
Grant scandal in the 1990s, along with other controversies – have
sparked what is just the latest in a string of NCAA investigations
involving some of college football’s most high-profile and
successful programs.
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In the past 18 months, the football teams at Southern California,
Ohio State, Auburn, Oregon, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia Tech
and LSU all have either been investigated or sanctioned by the
NCAA.
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The litany of scandals has led to calls for major reforms in the
way the NCAA regulates and polices big-time college athletics.
Commissioners of the major conferences, including Mike Slive from
the Southeastern Conference and Jim Delany from the Big Ten, have
called for major changes and increased penalties for
rule-breakers.
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Last week, NCAA President Mark Emmert led a group of university
presidents in laying out an outline for changes, including raising
academic standards, streamlining the rulebook and changing the
parameters of athletic scholarships.
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Yahoo! Sports also said Shapiro paid Wilfork $50,000 as a
recruiting tool to sign with sports agency Axcess Sports &
Entertainment, a firm Shapiro claimed he co-owned for much of the
time he was involved with the Hurricanes. Yahoo! Sports reported
players got cash and benefits through Shapiro’s partner, former NFL
agent and current UFL commissioner Michael Huyghue.
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Reached Tuesday by The Associated Press, Huyghue denied that
Shapiro had any role in his company.
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AP Sports Writers Tim Reynolds, Eric Olson, Cliff Brunt and RB
Fallstrom contributed to this story.
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Online:
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Link to Yahoo! Sports: “text-decoration: none; color: #000066;” href=
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